Four people, four alliases. Four kids, four reasons. In MTK, in the heart of Exvestia, these eight must escape the clutches of the Enforcers. It's a tense and short game, but when they throw down four pairs of aces, when Gambler made a big show before they started of taking out all but one, they know they're all cheaters. Cheaters are losers. And losers die.

I really need to get my ass in gear and get all my other stories updated D: Sorry guys!

Four figures enter the room - which has its walls and corners dimmed, lit only by a flickering overhead lamp - simultaniously, all using varrying methods.

A man in red with shimmering reptile scales painted around the edges of his face and along the connected skin from limb to limb arrives in a flurry of fire, leaning back in a chair so that the front legs were off the ground and his foot was supported by the edge of his side of the table. He curled a tendril around his finger as though it were a lock of hair before blowing on it and extinguishing the petty light. His eyes were a vibrant vermillion, with golden flecks around his pupil. His clothing was of a red vest over a gold dress shirt folded up to his elbows and black slacks, with a red fedora tilting forwards on his flame-like hair. On his feet were a worn pair of checkered VANS, seemingly out of place with the rest of his fancy garb. He spins a brightly colored plastic sphere that rattles in his fingers.

A girl, petite and rather pale, really, materializes from the bottom up, ancient words swirling around what will become her form. She has magenta eyes, and black hair like calligraphy ink, though most of her head is hidden by a black and white theater mask and black hooded cloak. Under the cloak she wears a simple leather bodysuit, and she has stud piercings in her ears and a dragon tattoo on the right side of her neck. Her feet are encased in knee-high combat boots and her hands have fingerless gloves. As she hovers in her seat rather than sitting, she plays with a plain black voodoo doll with red dot eyes and a red X in the middle of its head and over where its heart would be, stroking the head thoughtfully with long, black painted fingers.

A woman appears in a tiny splash of rain water, making the other two sigh and wave the water away, making the woman huff. She's dressed in a low cut, shimmery blue dress that splits up the side to her hip, showing an aqua colored garter. She, too, wears gloves, though they're more princess-y, up to her elbows and a light blue made of spider silk. Her dark blue high heels and sapphire jewel necklace match her eyes, which are a deep cobalt. Her hair, which matches her dress, is a cotton candy blue, with only one streak of silver down the middle in the back. She fiddles with a small music box, smiling at the dark haired girl across from her who's eyeing it hungrily, crossing her legs elegantly.

And then there's that last girl at the table.

She walks in from her respective door, instead of with a fancy appearance like the others, curled into herself like she doesn't want to be seen, doesn't want anyone to notice her. She's dressed rather plainly in an old college sweatshirt over a white v-neck, dark wash jeans, Sharpie-scribbled white Converse, and a couple silver bangles on one wrist. Her curly hair is pulled back into a messy bun, a shorter lock of wavy hair separated from the rest, hanging to the side of her face. She has storm-cloud gray eyes that have faded blue flecks that resemble something like forked lightning when under certain lighting, and they flick around nervously at the faces.

The hooded girl speaks first. "Well, my friends, shall we begin? I believe it is an old common courtesy to begin by exchanging names, is it not? However," she says, "as tonight is not of that time, we will be going by our alliases. I, for one, am fond of the title Graphite Gambler, and would like to be addressed as so, or at least Gambler."

The redhead grins and tilts his hat further down to create a dark shadowing over his face for pure dramatics. "Pyro Prince, if you please."

The bluenette woman smiles coyly, like she knows something they don't. Her eyes hold the dancing light of one who knows a million secrets, a light that once belonged to the Graphite Gambler. "The Aquatic Wolf, in the flesh," she giggles.

Everyone turns their eyes to the only one who hasn't spoken.

The plain girl fidgits in her seat, scratching at her left shin with her right shoe. "Uh, I guess I'm uh, Page Girl? That's original, right?"

The Prince erupts into a fit of hysterical laughter, his cool demeanor dissolving in a wave of barking laughter. His head smacks into the corner of the table and his leg falls to the floor as he grips the edges for support. "P-Page Girl! Oh, that's rich!"

Wolf raises a brow, her smile increasing in size and silent messages as her amusement is fed. "Darling, you'll have to be more creative than that to survive here."

The plain young adult worries her bottom lip with her teeth. "Where are we, exactly?" she asks.

Immediately, the Gambler's eyes' light dull and she sighs. "That crucial piece of information is blank." She spreads her hands as if to say, 'Oh well, what can you do?'. "I've quickly grown weary of this little chuckle-fest, girl. You'll be dubbed Seven, as of now."

'Seven' frowns, her shoulders still tense. "Why Seven?"

"Because," the Prince snickers, "in a deck of cards" - the Gambler snaps her fingers and causes a small card box to pop up with a whisp of smoke as if on cue - "seven is neither higher nor lower. Smack in the middle. So, basically, she's named you as a bit of a useless girl."

The Gambler rolls her eyes, taps her black fingers on the box. "Yes yes, now let's play."

Cards and dealt and several rounds each are won(pure luck on 'Seven''s part) until they all have a number five on the holographic scoreboard that pops up in the middle of the table for all of them to see.

Gambler stares. "Well, this wasn't suppost to happen."

"A tiebreaker," Wolf suggests, pushing forward her music box to the middle. "But we don't use chips. I put forward my music box of time." Seven wants to giggle at the name, but refrains when she sees no one else smiling or laughing. "It's my secondary source of strength; time travel, but not time stopping. Gambler gets all the good stuff..." Said girl only smirks behind her mask.

Prince sighs conflictedly and places his rattling sphere down. "My encasement of power crystals of the ancients. It gives me the ability of super speed."

Seven seems to have nothing. But surprisingly, she reaches her hand under her sweatshirt to pull out a flexible, three-ring folder. Her expression is pained. "I guess I really have no out in this, so... My book manuscript. I... I've been writing it for four years; since the start of college. But..." She tosses it on top. "I guess the losers die in this, right?"

Gambler nods. "Winner takes all and his life, the losers die. No cheating is permitted."

It's a tense and short game, but when they throw down four pairs of aces, when Gambler made a big show before they started of taking out all but one, they know they're all cheaters. Cheaters are losers.